FTW86LA029 · Piper PA-31-325
Piper PA-31-325 · Accident: partial loss of engine power (non-mechanical) during initial climb
From Kimble County Airport (JCT) to Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX)
Event
- NTSB case
- FTW86LA029
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- InvestigationHow far the investigation had got when the record was published: preliminary, ongoing, final or completed. Unknown where the source does not say. Glossary
- Completed
- API-reported fatalities
- 0 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- 0
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- General aviation
- WeatherVisual meteorological conditions (VMC): good enough to fly by looking outside. Instrument conditions (IMC): cloud or low visibility, flying by instruments. Glossary
- Visual Meteorological Cond
Piper PA-31-325
- Aircraft type
- Piper PA-31
- Category
- Airplane
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- N27842
- Operator
- Unknown
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From Kimble County Airport (JCT), Junction, TXTo Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX), Phoenix, AZ
- Aircraft age
- Not recorded
- Flight rulesThe regulations the flight operated under: in the US, Part 91 (general aviation), Part 121 (airlines), Part 135 (air taxi and commuter) and others; for flights abroad, the NTSB's coarser commercial or non-commercial code. Glossary
- Part 91: General Aviation
- Phase of flightThe stage of the flight when things started to go wrong: standing, taxi, takeoff, initial climb, en route, maneuvering, approach or landing. Glossary
- Initial climb
- First occurrenceThe single coded event the NTSB judges best describes what happened (records from 2008 on). Older records name the first occurrence in the sequence instead. Glossary
- Partial loss of engine power (non-mechanical)
- DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
- Destroyed
Cause areas
- Fluid, oil › Loss, partial
- Lubricating system › Open
- Pilot in command › Aircraft preflight, inadequate
- Pilot in command › Procedures/directives, improper
- Pilot in command › Remedial action, not understood
Approximate · Coordinates as recorded by the NTSB; no uncertainty radius is established.
NTSB narrative
DURING INITIAL CLIMB AFTER TAKEOFF THE PILOT NOTICED OIL STREAMING OUT FROM THE OIL FILLER ACCESS DOOR ON THE RIGHT ENGINE COWLING. HE ELECTED TO CONTINUE CLIMBING AND MAKE A TEAR DROP TURN BACK TO THE AIRPORT AND LAND IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION FROM WHICH HE HAD DEPARTED.HE ANNOUNCED HIS INTENTIONS ON UNICOM RADIO.ANOTHER PILOT RESPONDED THAT HE WAS PRESENTLY ON THE RUNWAY BUT WOULD CLEAR IT AS SOON AS POSIBLE. THE SUBJECT PILOT THEN DECIDED TO MAKE A GO AROUND. DURING THIS TIME THE RIGHT FRONT SEAT PASSENGER STATED HE OBSERVED FLAMES IN THE RIGHT ENGINE COWL.THE PILOIT SHUT DOWN THE ENGINE AND FEATHERED THE PROPELLER.HE ADDED FULL POWER TO THE LEFT ENGINE AND RETRACTED THE LANDING GEAR AND FLAPS.HE WAS UNABLE TO MAINTAIN ALTITUDE AND DECIDED TO MAKE A FORCED LANDING STRAIGHT AHEAD IN AN OPEN FIELD.HE HAD TO PULL UP ONCE TO AVOID A POWER LINE AND MANEUVER TO AVOID AN ANTENNA.HE MADE A SUCCESSFUL FORCED LANDING AND ALL OCCUPANTS EXITED.THE FLAMES QUICKLY SPREAD AND THE AIRCRAFT WAS CONSUMED BY GROUND FIRE.
Verbatim NTSB analysis from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record FTW86LA029
- Event ID
- 20001214X38419
- Case number
- FTW86LA029
- Dataset
- historical-pre2008
- Source SHA-256
- 89e2df6d848e7ab3b42e7d7c7a03ff403303057a26ca04c95b3ea67201c3ce74
Source notes (4)
- Unreviewed is an editorial label, not an investigation status. API-sourced is not report-checked or human-reviewed. Explicit event totals are used without summing aircraft injury tables; onboard allocation is withheld. Unknown values remain unknown. The operation category is mapped from the NTSB-reported FAR part and has not been reviewed.
- Filled from the NTSB case API where the bulk record had no value: investigation status. Values present in the bulk record are kept.
- The date is the local date, which is the same as the UTC date the NTSB stores.
- API snapshot SHA-256: ad25a803354f367b675d24db584a21caee1b15d61c5024e73a8a46989e3b5430; retrieved 2026-09-21T17:05:10.023Z.